HOUSTON — Houston Independent School District administrators have directed some campuses to cut staff and spending a month into the school year as the district faces declining enrollment and reduced state funding during its third year under a state takeover.
HISD announced the reductions Tuesday as part of its annual “campus leveling” process, which adjusts school funding according to actual enrollment compared with projections made in the spring.
The district said employees affected from the reductions could receive assignments to other available positions. HISD did not disclose how many campuses face cuts, how much spending it plans to eliminate or how many positions could change.
The district also cited a broader financial environment that includes declining enrollment and limited resources.
The reductions followed a Texas Tribune investigation that found state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles’ New Education System, or NES, has increased HISD’s operating costs as the district loses students and state funding.
HISD based its current-year budgets on a projected loss of 4,000 students, according to May budget documents. The projection represented about half of the roughly 8,000-student decline the district recorded the previous year.
The Texas Tribune reported that HISD enrollment has fallen below projections during each of the first three years of the takeover, averaging about 1,700 fewer students than projected each year. The Houston Chronicle also reported that the district had nearly 10,000 fewer students than it had the previous September.
Texas funds public schools largely according to student attendance, so enrollment losses reduce the state funding available to the district.
“We have worked hard over the last three years to put HISD on stronger financial footing while putting more resources into classrooms and increasing teacher pay,” Miles said in a district release. “But we also have to adjust when enrollment and revenues change.”
Miles said the district must make financial decisions that allow it to continue funding programs that affect student achievement.
The Texas Tribune reported that HISD lost about 21,000 students during the first three years of the takeover, resulting in an estimated $190 million reduction in state funding. The district also used nearly $450 million from its reserves during the first two years of the takeover.
Several campuses have notified families about specific reductions.
At Lamar High School, Principal Rita Gaves told families that the campus faced a $500,000 shortfall that would affect programs including choir and debate.
At T.H. Rogers Middle School, Principal Suparna Vashisht told parents that an assistant principal and a librarian would receive new assignments as the school reduces spending.
Brooke Markeloff, a parent of a seventh grader at T.H. Rogers, questioned the need for the cuts because the magnet school typically maintains a waitlist. Official enrollment figures for the current school year were not yet available when she made the comments.
One HISD employee who manages finances at a non-NES campus said the latest directive differed from previous years, when administrators typically received guidance to adjust staffing based on enrollment. The employee said the current instructions required cuts and spoke anonymously because of concerns about retaliation.
The Texas Tribune reported that HISD’s NES reforms cost about $700,000 per campus during the first year of implementation and about $2,000 to $2,200 more per student in subsequent years.
The district has also made other reductions since the takeover began. Miles eliminated roughly 1,500 central-office positions, more than 200 wraparound specialist positions and 85 bus routes as HISD sought to reduce recurring costs.
HISD had an annual operating budget of about $2 billion and employed roughly 22,600 workers in the previous school year, including about 10,000 teachers.
Other Texas school districts have also adjusted staffing after enrollment fell below projections. Fort Worth ISD, which entered its first year under a state takeover, leveled campuses last month after enrollment came in about 2,500 students below projections.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Miles and a board of managers to oversee HISD after the state took control of the district in 2023. The state removed the district’s elected school board and superintendent as part of the takeover.
